The other side of the coin-Customer bad behavior irks servers

[Itchrelief]

I"m always baffled by the whole we can pay you less because you get tips rule. Living in Oregon its against employment laws to do that. You have to get paid at least minimum wage and the employer can't pay you less if you get tips.

But they DO get minimum wage.

If an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 an hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.

http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm

 

[sandorski]

I Tip 15%, but really Tipping is a bad practice, especially since Employers are cutting Wages to the bone based upon potential Tips. You can't outlaw Tipping, since it's such an entrenched practice, but I'd far prefer Restaurants refusing Tips and simply Pricing their items to Pay a decent Wage for their Employees than the system in place now. It seems the Tip% keeps going up, which indicates to me that the system is broken.

 

[ShawnD1]

I still tip for bad service, just not as much.


Think of any other job. You're doing a design project, sizing the electrical system used for the expansion of the subway. It turns out your design was a pile of shit and the thing needs to be redone. Does the company decide to pay you $0 for your time? Of course not, but you won't get a bonus or a raise for this. Bad service = somewhere around maybe 5%, rounded to the nearest dollar.

 

[BoomerD]

I"m always baffled by the whole we can pay you less because you get tips rule. Living in Oregon its against employment laws to do that. You have to get paid at least minimum wage and the employer can't pay you less if you get tips.

do people still tip in Oregon?

if yes, do they tip less than the rest of the country?

Kahleeforneeya has the same law. Tipped employees get paid the full state/local minimum wage as everyone else. Tips are on top of that minimum wage.

Yes, MOST people here still tip 15+% for decent service. As with anywhere else, you have people who stiff their waiter/waitress.

 

[BoomerD]

I really don't buy this. Have a link?

Edited my original post.

Silly me...I mis-spoke...Servers are presumed to get at least 8% tips for their total, and will most likely be taxed on 8% minimum of their total receipts unless they claim their tips accurately. When a restaurant reports less than 8% total tips, they can be required to allocate tips:

"Many restaurant employers and restaurant employees may have heard the false rumor that tip-earners only need to report tips equal to 8% (or perhaps some other number, such as 10%) of their sales. That's a widespread misconception. The law requires employees to report and pay taxes on 100% of the tips they keep after tip-outs. It's that simple.

The 8% figure is simply a threshold below which many employers must allocate tips and report certain additional information to the IRS. The IRS can use this information to flag restaurants where employees may be underreporting tips."
http://www.hospitalityguild.com/Guid...tips.htm#eight

 

[waggy]

I still tip for bad service, just not as much.


Think of any other job. You're doing a design project, sizing the electrical system used for the expansion of the subway. It turns out your design was a pile of shit and the thing needs to be redone. Does the company decide to pay you $0 for your time? Of course not, but you won't get a bonus or a raise for this. Bad service = somewhere around maybe 5%, rounded to the nearest dollar.

except for the fact a shitty waitress is still going to get paid the wage she agreed to (at LEAST min wage).

she Is NOT going to get $0 for her time

 

[ahenkel]

I do think if the customer needs to communicate with the server if there is a problem. If you sit there in silence and brood over your meal like a spoiled brat how can they fix it.

 

[Bryf50]

This is bs. These waiters are clearly working off the books and such i have no sympathy for them. I just read the poster in my break room. The waiter is supposed to get paid a certain amount an hour(less then minimum) and if the tips don't put them over the minimum wage the employer pays the difference.

 

[3chordcharlie]

I'm sorry but I don't think that's what it says. This is what your link says, and I'll try to translate.

So for starters, you have regular tips that come from customers. You report this number to your employer. On top of this, your employer can give you "allocated tips" under certain conditions.



Um.. so it sounds like tips are pooled together somewhat.
*The expectation is that each individual waiter gets an 8% tip consistently, and you report your tip earnings to your boss.
*If the business sells 1 million dollars worth of food, then 8% of this, or $80,000 is allocated as tips for ALL waiters.
*If the waiters only collectively reported $70,000 in tips, then the employer must pay out $10,000 among the people who did not earn their 8%.
*People who earned more than 8% do not get any allocated tips


The interesting part about this is that most people tip more than 8%. I don't work in the food industry, but I would guess that it's extremely rare that a company would need to pay allocated tips. What this means is that if an individual waiter's tip percentage for the year is less than 8%, too bad so sad since the entire staff collectively beat the 8% and allocated tips are not required. If you stiff the waiter with no tip, he really doesn't get a tip. HE IS NOT REQUIRED TO PAY MONEY TO ANYONE.

Allocated tips aren't paid to the server, they are simply assigned as 'income' whether they were actually received or not. Effectively the government says "as a group, you were tipped at least 8% of sales, and someone is giving me my taste, so pay up".

 

[TurtleCrusher]

do people still tip in Oregon?

if yes, do they tip less than the rest of the country?

Absolutely. Typically about 20% from every receipt I've seen.

I kinda go out a lot...

 

[pcgeek11]

I do think if the customer needs to communicate with the server if there is a problem. If you sit there in silence and brood over your meal like a spoiled brat how can they fix it.

It isn't the customers responsibility to train the staff. If they do not know how to interact with a customer then maybe they need a career change.

Tip = Gratuity
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural gra·tu·ities
Something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service; especially : tip

Service sucks = No tip for you!

 

[ahenkel]

It isn't the customers responsibility to train the staff. If they do not know how to interact with a customer then maybe they need a career change.

Tip = Gratuity
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural gra·tu·ities
Something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service; especially : tip

Service sucks = No tip for you!

I never said that it was the customers job to train the staff. Good job on reading way too much into things. All I said is that customers need to communicate if there's a problem. People who work food service can't read your mind and need to know whats wrong so they can fix it. If I order something and it comes out wrong I tell them, if they keep refilling my water too often I let them know. If I need something or have a problem I communicate. I don't sit there and have a pissed off look on my face and hope they see it. I'm not a 2 year old.

 

[DrPizza]

Let's see if I understand that article correctly - the server is complaining that he has to pay taxes on the tips, so you need to pay him more in tips so that he has additional income that he's going to hid from Uncle Sam by only reporting the first 8%? Plus, he has to divide part of that 8% up over the bartender and bus boy?

 

[tyler811]

Refill my drink and get my food to me while it is hot and that is a 20% tip.

 

[SoCalAznGuy]

Apply minimum wage laws to restaurant employees.

Many states already do.

CA, NV, WA, HW, OR and many other states already do this. Tip is in addition to the required minimum wage of the State, and cannot be used to meet it. In SF forexample the minimum wage is around $9.50 an hour, so waitstaff must be paid atleast this amount in addition to their tip. Their tip cannot be used to meet this $9.50 an hour.

 

[SoCalAznGuy]

Also in some states mandatory tips are subject to sales tax, so the state will take some of it too. Here in Cali if a resturant adds on the tip for you then they are required to give atleast 8.25% of that to the state of California as Sales Tax.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Also in some states mandatory tips are subject to sales tax, so the state will take some of it too. Here in Cali if a resturant adds on the tip for you then they are required to give atleast 8.25% of that to the state of California as Sales Tax.

A mandatory tip isn't a tip - it's a 'service charge' and is certainly taxable under the spirit of most sales tax laws.

 

[Elganja]

thats what iw as thinking. they aren't paying $8 in taxes on a $100 bill.

anyway. i tip what the person earns. i start at %20 and go down if crappy. i have no trouble leaveing a dollar tip if thats what they ear. I also have no trouble leaving a lot more then%20 if they earn that.

a tip is sopposed to be provided for outstanding service. now its a extra fee that many feel they deserve even for shitty service. some even expect they should get 30-50 tip. fuck that.

I support this message

 

[TheNinja]

Many waiters and waitresses work hard so I will tip them fine. However I work hard for my money too and I'm not going to just "give" you 20% b/c you think you deserve it for doing a half-assed job. Beyond that, you probably won't claim most of my tip so you are getting +25% (or whatever your tax bracket is) on top of that.
It's just a shitty system and waiters always bitch about tips. However many times I know they walk out with $100 cash for an evening shift even at applebee's. $100 cash isn't bad b/c you know they aren't claiming that as income. If they don't like they job they can try to go somewhere else.

 

[JEDI]

went to lunch today at a restaurant. the waitess was prompt and friendly.

unfortunately, the kitchen was SLOW was hell. there was 2 other tables in use, and each had 2 people. it took like 30min for a burger. WTF!

i still tipped the waitess 20% because of good service because its not her fault the kitchen was slow.

 

[PricklyPete]

There is a reason why he's a waiter.

my thoughts exactly.

 

[Jzero]

Karen of Rochester Hills added that, even if the restaurant is not busy, "the server has to stay until you leave and is not getting paid anything."

So what? If the restaurant is empty and it's not closing time, the server will be sent home (and will not be paid for the remainder of the shift with no chance of earning any tips if the pace picks up) and if it' is closing time, the customers' sin is not camping the table, it's staying past closing time!

 

[Triumph]

Many waiters and waitresses work hard so I will tip them fine. However I work hard for my money too and I'm not going to just "give" you 20% b/c you think you deserve it for doing a half-assed job.

Good point, and I never see it mentioned in these tip threads. Like what, I don't work hard for my money, either? My boss doesn't tip me! If I do a good job, he gives me more work.

 

[her209]

To be fair to the waiters/waitresses of America, some customers are just hard to please. Some are just cheap asses.

 

[NesuD]

What a server earns is not my problem. I don't give a rats ass what percentage anyone says I should tip. I have a very simple system. From the second I am seated the server has earned a 15% tip without doing anything. That number can increase or decrease based on how well they do their job. If they are attentive and accurate they will get a raise to 20%. If not it could drop to 10%. If they are attentive, accurate, engaging and entertaining it could go up to 30%. However if they are inattentive, get the order wrong, or do not bring my complete order before the check there will be no tip. Yes this last actually happened to me once. I even reminded the server that an item was missing from my order and she still did not bring it. That is the only time I have ever refused to tip a server. I am very easy going and can tolerate mediocre service but there are limits.